How Congress must and can unchain US energy — and power America’s future

THE NEW YORK POST | BY: DAVE MCCORMICK Over the next six months, Congress has a historic chance to deliver an energy and economic bonanza — by overhauling America’s broken permitting system. President Donald Trump has already led the way , cutting red tape and pulling in record investment. Now, with midterms closing in, Congress must finish the job. Most Americans don’t think about permitting rules. They think about putting food on the table, buying a new car, taking the kids on vacation; they want good jobs in their communities and more money in their pockets. But whether they think about it or not, our antiquated permitting process stands between them and those dreams. Right now, $1.5 trillion in critical infrastructure sits frozen in permitting limbo — holding back up to $2.4 trillion in unrealized economic activity. It takes longer to permit a power plant — five years — than it took us to win World War II. Transmission lines take even longer, nearly eight years apiece. America is blessed with extraordinary energy resources, but they’re trapped in a bureaucratic maze . From 2013 to ’24, US natural gas demand surged 49% — while pipeline capacity grew just 26%. Storage capacity? A mere 2% increase in that time. Demand is sprinting while capacity crawls. We must fix this broken system. Done right, permitting reform will force federal and state governments to move faster, clear the backlog, and unleash a wave of investment into our economy. It will also bring down prices: The projects stuck in limbo could power more than 50 million homes. That backlog keeps costs artificially high — from farming to fighter jets. Cheaper energy means cheaper everything . It will create great-paying jobs, too. Every new nuclear plant, well pad, oil rig, pipeline and power line unlocked by reform means thousands of jobs for welders, electricians, pipefitters and engineers in small industrial towns across America — towns like Bloomsburg, Pa., where I grew up. And it will make us more secure: We are in a head-to-head race with communist China for AI leadership, and the stakes are existential. We can’t afford to lose, but we can’t win without more energy. Recent fighting in the Strait of Hormuz is a stark reminder that we can’t rely on the rest of the world to power our future. We must build it ourselves, and serve as the supplier to our allies around the world. All this is why I’m introducing the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act this week — gold-standard legislation that gives this country what it needs to shake off its regulatory shackles and surge forward. The bill takes on four distinct chokepoints. It stops opponents from weaponizing the Clean Water Act as a general-purpose veto on energy development projects, setting hard deadlines and limiting reviews to actual water-quality concerns. It scraps the outdated policy that forces liquified-natural-gas exporters to ask for case-by-case federal approval before selling American gas abroad. It modernizes nuclear licensing to match today’s technology and decades of proven safety. And it brings common sense to environmental litigation, which activists routinely use to kill projects that have already cleared every regulatory hurdle. The benefits for my state, Pennsylvania, would be enormous. We are an energy superpower — third in the nation in total electricity production, second in natural gas, second in nuclear. But we lack the infrastructure to match: Two major pipelines designed to move Marcellus Shale gas to Northeast markets were killed when activist New York refused to issue a water-quality permit. Pennsylvania needs a federal permitting system that leapfrogs such roadblocks to unlock its energy dominance. America needs that too: LNG terminals on the Gulf Coast, nuclear power plants in the Midwest, and manufacturers across the country are stuck behind the same broken process. My bill delivers for all of them. This is not an argument for gutting environmental standards or for shutting down public debate. It’s an argument for decisions that are timely, lawful and final. We can protect our natural resources and still build America’s future. Now is the moment: We have a pro-energy president and a Republican Congress determined to unleash American energy — and I’ve spoken with many Democratic colleagues who want projects unlocked in their states, too. The common ground is real, important bipartisan conversations are underway, and the American people are demanding we seize the opportunity. President Trump has laid the blueprint. Congress must now enshrine it in law and cement his and America’s legacy of energy dominance. David McCormick represents Pennsylvania in the US Senate.